A joint operation involving the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and its law enforcement partners has resulted in the seizure of 97 bails of suspected marijuana.
RBDF Intelligence Officer Captain Derrick Ferguson provided details of the major drug bust on Monday. He said, “sometime around Friday the 24th, the working group was alerted to information of a vessel that was transiting towards The Bahamas with a large amount of narcotics on board. Once we received that alert the U.S. deployed and mobilized various of air assets. The Bahamas Police Force also mobilized units. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force alerted our surface assets inside the north, south and central Bahamas to be properly positioned to be prepared to intercept this narco go-fast vessel.”
According to Captain Ferguson, the men found aboard the go-fast boat attempted to turn around once they realized they had been detected. “The Bahamas Defence Force granted permission to the U.S. Guard that has a cutter in the nearby area to, on behalf of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, conduct a board and search of that vessel. That board and search represented what we have here today, a successful interdiction of a large quantity of suspected marijuana,” he said.
At the time of the delivery of the drugs to the Coral Harbour Base the value and exact quantity were still unknown. It was later revealed by the Royal Bahama Police Force that the three men found on the boat were taken into custody. They also revealed the illegal substance to be hydroponic marijuana weighing 2,318 pounds with an estimated street value of $5,975,000.
Captain Ferguson also issued a stern warning to would-be traffickers. “Be there no mistake the U. S. and the Bahamian partnership is strong and we remain committed to detecting, disrupting, and denying any transnational criminal activity that may seek to enter and transit the Bahamian maritime jurisdiction.”
The go-fast vessel was seized along with the narcotics during the operation and will be forfeited by the courts.
